This year, Nicole fell on hard times but remembered an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres show she saw in 2013.

“I remember seeing you on the show,” she says, “and thinking that’s so amazing what you’re doing for people and I never thought I’d be one of the people that actually needs the slices of pizza.”

Growing up in South Philly, Nicole always wanted to be a cop, but life's challenges detoured her pursuing such dreams. When she talks about her son, Christian, her commitment to give him a brighter future is obvious.

“I want to get a job,” she says, “and be successful for my kids.”

“He loves cars,” she says. “He’s so smart; he understands everything.” She clearly thinks he is capable of anything and wants so desperately for him to succeed.

Her hopes for her son are evident when she offers a bit of advice for anyone, like her, who’s struggling, “You have to keep your head up.”

“Sometimes I’m having a bad day and I’m eating my pizza with my son and I look on the wall and I see the sticky notes…and that makes me feel better when it’s like ‘keep your head up,’ ‘keep going,’ ‘you’re beautiful.’

“You just have to take it day by day, and sometimes it’s really hard when you have kids but you can’t give up because they’re watching you.”

Through this difficult time, she thinks back on the words of wisdom she received from her aunt: “You have to do it for your kids.”

“At the end of the day,” Nicole has learned, “you have to rely on yourself and have faith and that’s it.”

We are happy to help Nicole every time she visits, and wish her and her son the very best. We know they will succeed!